How to participate in the open-government movement

Four years from now, the government will still be partisan, public agencies will still operate out of public view, and citizens will still be excluded from participating in the decisions made by their representatives at all levels of government.

(Credit: O'Reilly Media)

But just maybe, when the 45th president takes the oath of office in January 2017, political factions will be more willing to compromise for the good of everyone, agencies at all levels of government will be more transparent, and our elected and appointed representatives will be more willing to listen to and act upon our opinions and ideas about the challenges and opportunities facing our nation and our neighborhoods.

The Internet changes things from the bottom up. In the last two decades, technology has revolutionized the publishing and entertainment industries and has had a profound effect on nearly every other industry. Government is the exception, but that is changing slowly. For the most part, the change is driven from groups of private citizens acting independently of any public agency.

As Don Tapscott states in the foreword to "Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice," citizens are demanding a "more responsive, resourceful, efficient, and accountable form of governance." Tapscott points out that the first wave of e-government simply automated existing processes and moved existing government... [Read more]